*edited* scam

[505a0f24]

Two years on and the 'Urgent PROOFREADERS needed' Skype scam is still going strong. This was my first bid so I was blinded by excitement. They said they represented **Edited for Community Guidelines** when I asked what the company name was. Luckily, I saw the warning about going off site before going too deep. They have my name and address though. 

It's fairly sophisticated in that they use multiple accounts to make you think you're speaking to multiple people. There's an assessment questionnaire and even an offer letter on letterhead. 

All the points from this old post remain true also: https://community.upwork.com/t5/Freelancers/Possible-Scam/m-p/689411#M418913

[ArjayM · Accepted solution]

Hi Ashley,

We truly appreciate you reaching out and reporting this here. I have escalated your report to the appropriate team. They will surely review the job you're referring to and take action accordingly if necessary. Please check out this post for more tips on how to avoid questionable jobs and please use the flag option found on each job post or message anytime you’d like to report a violation.

[3ec93005]

I am a victim of this scam also.  I am very nervous because they have a lot of my personal info.  Please advise on what to do.  

Thank you,

Erika

[the-right-writer]

Any time a client wants you to go outside of Upwork before a contract is in place is a scam. You need to read and follow the Terms of Service and then read this from Wes.  Not only will you lose money, but you can also lose your Upwork account permanently.

Don't worry about personal information. The scammers don't want it, they want your money.

Never communicate outside of Upwork until you have either a fixed price or hourly contract. Learn the difference between the two and how automatic hours are tracked with some protection from Upwork. You have to protect yourself because no one, including Upwork, will do it for you.

[4336a0d6]

Hey, this scam is still happening! I almost fell for it myself this week. 

[e98e53af]

Yeah i still see them as well, everyone should be very careful...

[48a28376]

The same people just contacted me.

[d98d1739]

They also contacted me today. As soon as I confronted them about it being a possible scam the job posting magically became inactive. So beware fellow Upworkers. From what I can tell they use the exact same post and methods. If you haven't encountered this yet: they will very quickly respond to your proposal, then send you a skype link to chat for an "interview," then send you a longer questionnaire to fill out, then tell you that congrats you have the job, then send you a skype link to your new "supervisor." All the responses and questions are clearly copy/paste robotic answers. Any attempts to probe for detail information are carefully glossed over. Hope no one else falls victim to this!

[spectralua]

Will fall for sure. Newbies creating topics with same issue daily. Noone will read forum before was scamed. 🙂

[c4e453ac]

As the OP says, new people get blinded by excitement when they join, as....wonder of wonders, within their first few proposals, they "land a job".  Nobody has told them scams are rife on UW.  They find out later that this is the case, after they've either been scammed, or at least engaged with a scammer.    These scams can be nipped in the bud via automatic censorship of URLs from initial correspondence from scammers to freelancers.  Not just censorship, but if ANY client is using t.me links or whatnot, they can be immediately suspended as it's a clear violation of ToS (at least, pre-contract). 

[abf4853c]

**edited for Community Guidelines** contacted me as well.

[aba3dc7a]

Thank you for making this post! I was also contacted by them and was under the assumption they were legit. I appreciate you helping inform others.

[ad840b65]

I was also just contacted by **edited for Community Guidelines** today. I was extremely excited about the position, but I knew the name sounded familiar. Thank you for informing others about the topic!

[financemark]

Hey Upwork -- that is **edited for Community Guidelines**.

Spelled **edited for Community Guidelines**

Apparently, they **edited for Community Guidelines** are still at it, two years later: **edited for Community Guidelines** is a scam. 

[baad386c]

Yes, they got me, too. Thankfully I didn't sign the contract because I looked them up before doing so. Crazy AND frustrating!

[0b084cb4]

Deleted by author

[prestonhunter]

re: "I think a good solution would be to find out if the real **edited for Community Guidelines** has any postings on Upwork at all and post it if they do not. This is a travesty and I plan to contact the real company and let them know they are being used to scam people online."

No.

We don't do that.

Virtually every company can have their name copied and used by scammers.

This has nothing to do with the real company.

The real company derives no benefit from being contacted by you. And you derive no benefit from doing so. Please leave them alone.

[0b084cb4]

Deleted by author 

[feed_my_eyes]

---

Monique A wrote:

Upwork cannot do that and I understand. I, on the other hand, can do whatever I want lol. 

---

Wrong again. It's a terms of service violation to contact clients outside of Upwork, which is what got you into trouble in the first place. Repeated violations (especially when you announce your intentions here) will result in your account being banned.

This company is no doubt already aware that scammers are using their name; many companies now have posts on their websites cautioning against falling for scams. 

[0b084cb4]

See below. Thanks!!!

[711d0379]

They got me to. I'm a little freaked out because I only caught it the last minute. 

[0b084cb4]

Deleted by author 

[ArjayM]

Hi Monique,

I’m sorry to learn about your experience. I tried to identify the client you’re referring to - is this the client who requested a meeting through Skype? Please note that sharing contact information before a contract has started is against Upwork's Terms of Service and all communications prior to the contract starting must take place on Upwork. 

We will not be able to share clients’ activities on Upwork to avoid violating our privacy policy but we encourage you to let us know if a TOS violation has happened by using the Flag as Inappropriate option throughout the platform. You can learn more about user reporting here. You may also want to check this help article and this thread for more information on how to stay safe on Upwork. 

[0b084cb4]

Deleted by author

[prestonhunter]

re: "I will, however, be handling taking this to the next level by myself."

There is no "next level."

[0b084cb4]

There's always a next level. There's basic, mediocre, master, expert and Jedi. 😄

[feed_my_eyes]

You seem to be under the impression that a scammer gave you their real name and that they really work for a certain company. They did not and they do not. They faked their location (country) as well. The BBB won't be able to do anything about this, and even if they were somehow able to catch a person - whose real name and location is unknown - there are thousands more scammers using the exact same methods. The best thing to do is learn how to spot scams and follow the rules that Upwork has put in place for your protection.

[0b084cb4]

I'm not under any impressions and my reply was simply a joke as you can see above. I have not posted anything about this problem or what I intend to do since the first day when I was angry and I would really appreciate if the people on this post would direct their energy towards the actual problem and its victims, who are still posting btw, instead of my initial post. Thanks. I do not require any further instruction on this topic.

[prestonhunter]

re: "If I don't hear from that company I'm getting to the BBB."

That is not the purpose of the BBB.

The BBB does not keep track of scammers copying the names of innocent companies and using those company names in their scams.

The BBB does not want you to contact them about this. If even you end up talking to someone, they aren't going to do anything about this. And you certainly would not want YOUR COMPANY being flagged or reported with consumer complaints because some scammer somewhere copied your company's name and used it in their scam, and then somebody complained to the BBB about your company. That doesn't seem very nice or fair.

[0b084cb4]

Deleted by author 

[b35f0a1d]

Just almost fell for the same thing today, also didn't know any better because it was my first.

[sarah-tascone]

This happened with me. I got far enough to find the name of the "company," Sandviper Sportswear. Luckily I didn't give them any financial information. I did find that the Sandviper website had a malicious virus when I clicked on it. When I texted this to "Claudia," my "supervisor" on Skype, there was no response. 

[09ed4a66]

they tried to offer a check to you as a reimburment for laptops you are going to use for their business. 

Not sure how they tried to scam you or what they tried to get. I stopped here when they are going to send me a scanned check. So strange. I wonder if the company Sandviper is legit.

[sarah-tascone]

Thanks for sharing. I'm on "standby" for the laptops but I haven't heard from them in a month. Now I know what to expect. Sandviper is a real company but must have got hacked.

[the-right-writer]

Yes, they are legitimate. This is a common scheme. When you go outside the platform it is always a scam.

[946b986d]

Thank goodness for this thread - it saved me from this scam! Just created an Upwork profile yesterday, and this was my first "gig". Took a few snapshots of the Skype discussion in the hopes that it helps others. The first person to contact me is a woman named "**Edited for Community Guidelines**" and my supervisor (shown in photos) is "**Edited for Community Guidelines**."

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[2a12677a]

So I unfortunately fell for this one today. I'm brand new to Upwork, and this seemed very promising! I didn't think twice about conversing with the "hiring manager" via Skype. However, when I was asked to print a check and deposit it in to my account I became suspicious. Fortunately, I found this post. I have since blocked both people on Skype and withdrawn my proposal. 

This is very upsetting. Like most people on here, inflation has hit me hard and I am looking for extra work to offset the high cost of living. It's so unfortunate that people are attempting to profit from these circumstances...

[c4e453ac]

You'll get gaslit and be told it's your fault for going off-platform.  As a new person, you're not expecting a jobs platform to host scam jobs.  It's not the first thing that comes to your mind, though it WILL be the first thing that comes to your mind when you learn about the low reputation UW have in policing and preventing such scams. UW allow a scammer to setup the scam in the first place - that is so easy to technically prevent.  In reality, that job would never have been posted because particular keywords are flagged, and the scammer is warned once - if they try to re-post with obfuscated keywords, suspend them.  No genuine hirer is going to take you off-platform pre-contract. THEY break the ToS BEFORE YOU DO! That's something the "old hands" on UW never mention as they try to shame you for going off-platform.  That "job" could so easily be prevented from being posted in the first place.

[17866406]

I am currently dealing with this group. Unfortunately I am new to Upwork, but I am not new to freelancing. It is absurd that people or bots are able to so freely use these platforms to scam freelancers.